So as Man U win their first game and United fans, along with some of the media, naturally assume that this is now an inevitable climb towards the top of the table (Tony Cascarino: I can see no reason why they should not finish 2nd or 3rd!), I think some reality is needed here. There is no doubt that Di Maria is a very good player, ditto Falcao. Other than that, however, the other additions are all good players and no more. There is no real strength in midfield (the sort that Yaya Toure and Fernandinho give to City, or Matic to Chelsea), and the middle of the defence is noticeably weak. Therefore good sides are going to put United under far more pressure than QPR were capable of. There is a lot of threat going forward, but you need to have the ball first. Clearly United will now compete for a top 4 place, but are people getting a bit carried away here......?
A midfield trio of Blind, Di Maria and Herrera may not be particularly powerful but there all good footballers, and all 3 are very good tacklers, and not frightened to get stuck in. We had Carrick and Scholes as a midfield pairing for many years, and neither of them were particularly powerful, they where both just very good footballers. We got to 3 CL finals winning 1 of those with Carrick and Scholes and won countless PL titles. Chelsea and Man City may have a big lump in midfield each, but there's more than one way to skin a cat
I think people are underrating herrera and blint. I saw someone say blind wasnt even rated in holland which is absolute nonsense. Its too early to say how good they will be and its likely they will be further additions soon but both are very capable players. More than capable of going toe to toe with yaya, matic and the rest. With an outlet like di maria thrown in to i can see us approaching the bigger games somewhat differently this season.
United fans have been very honest about our problems over the last year (many of us highlighting them further back than that). We've never tried to play up our performances when we've played badly. So I doubt anyone is going to get carried away now. There was a definite improvement in the way we moved the ball, our movement and our attacking play. I don't understand your last comment about having the ball first? We had 72% possession against QPR. What, from the game, made you question Blind and Herrera couldn't gain or keep possession?
Pundits and the media getting carried away? Never! And you forget that for every Cascarino talking about us finishing 2nd there's a Merson saying we are still miles off top four. The media just wheel out whichever pundit will dance to their tune on a weekly basis so they can get as many people watching and talking about it as possible. Still, can't criticise it too much - as this thread shows it gets attention!
One comment you will never see from a United fan, except as a quote is "This year could be our year" And it is only a quote from me
That's cos this year most definitely is our year. I predict a treble. Just need to decide what the third part can be.
Exactly UIR, there really is ONLY one true treble 1. Premier League 2. Champions League 3. F.A cup. Everything else is mickey mouse
Here's a thought. I'm trying to look at this objectively (and certainly not based on one game). Look at the squad of United and those of Arsenal and Liverpool. What's the difference in terms of strengths and weaknesses. The criticisms being labelled against us apply equally to those teams surely? Do all look suspect defensively - yes. In terms of midfield and wingers do all have a good compliment of players - probably not. Are all the three likely to score plenty of goals - yes. Like for like against Liverpool and Arsenal I'm feeling confident. The only thing that you could question is the confidence of some of our players from last season, but the new players seem to be bringing a "no fear" attitude which already is having an impact on the rest of the team and will only get better.
